Obsidian bashing thread

[Lhynn]

So lovers lab has no reason to fix their game now.

 

[Beastro]

At least he played it now.

I'm not sure you could really call it that.

"Fulfilled his stretch goal promise before dropping it like a rock" is a more apt way of putting it.

 

[Azarkon]

I don't understand this sudden "revelation" on the side of developers about social justice in games.

Video games being white male power fantasies isn't a new idea. So were/are superhero comics and movies, as well as, arguably, the bulk of fantasy and much of science fiction. Social justice does not occur through mass entertainment, they occur in spite of mass entertainment. Gamers don't generally give a fuck about social justice because had they given a fuck, they'd be out there participating in activism instead of shooting Arabs in Call of Duty. 99% of games are set up as wish-fulfilment and that's what people want them to be.

Trying to force social justice agendas in games is, as such, bound to back fire. You're targeting a community that is best represented by Reddit, Youtube, and 4Chan. When they're not making fun of SJWs, they're jizzing over the latest white nerd fantasies be that in sports, technology, women, politics, whatever. Yes, gamers are a degenerate bunch by certain social standards - it has to be recalled that "gamer" used to be synonymous with "loser" in popular belief - but so were/are comic book fans, and those guys have the purchasing power to launch a dozen $100 million+ movies every year. Hollywood understands this, which is why Hollywood continues to be sexist, and only marginally less racist.

Remember Pixar? Remember how big Pixar was in Hollywood before Disney bought them out? Remember how every main protagonist in Pixar movies was white? You didn't even think about it, did you?

Racism is terrible. Sexism is terrible. Most of what 4Chan, Youtube, Reddit, and Codex General believes is probably also terrible. But you can't change the fact that video games are power fantasies. Insofar as diversity is needed, it is needed because women and minorities also have power fantasies that they want fulfilled. When I hear Annie Mitsoda talk about female protagonists in Torment, what I'm hearing is not "we need games to push for gender equality" but "I want to play 'my gender' in games." I'm sure she's not going to speak up about the need for male representation in Portals and the Longest Journey. That's completely fine, and in case we need women developers to deliver a fulfilling female fantasy experience, so be it.

But what is not acceptable is to try and transform video games into what they are not: a tool for social justice. That's not what people pay money for. Insofar as the sensibilities of games must change as the times change, that is up to the market. And as I said, I'm fine with games that target the fancies of women and minority gamers - though at one level, I imagine they aren't as different from that of white male gamers as people think - but don't put the video game medium on a fucking pedestal and think it's not a power fantasy, especially not when you are making medieval fantasy RPGs.

 

[Irenaeus II]

Old news.